Welcome to the Forum Archive!

Years of conversation fill a ton of digital pages, and we've kept all of it accessible to browse or copy over. Whether you're looking for reveal articles for older champions, or the first time that Rammus rolled into an "OK" thread, or anything in between, you can find it here. When you're finished, check out the boards to join in the latest League of Legends discussions.

AD Malzahar - STOP THE HATE

I like AD Mal and have played him several times. Yes I do get the commentary as youve mentioned, but I generally do quite well with him so I don't get complaints. I have bungled a few games and got a LOT of hate for it though, so I understand.

Your build looks fine to me. My only recommendation would be to go with more Defense for that early game. I take 2-21-7 (2 in AD, defense taking the +health, +movespeed, +CDR, util taking max mana and movespeed).
I like the idea of more Offense but too many wasted points. Just 9 offense means 4 pts in Attack Speed which is totally worthless. More Offense would give my Sunder and AD/lvl which is good. But it makes me extremely weak early game.

I start Tear,Boots like you do.
However I take IONIC BOOTS ASAP instead of merc treads. Since my minions are doing a lot of the damage, I dont feel a huge need for the Tenacity and 850g for 25MR is horribly inefficient.
This also increases my spammage a lot really early on.
It also means I can take AD/lvl Reds/Quints, Armor Yellows, and MR/lvl BLUES instead of CDR blues. The MR is extremely helpful esp since you prioritize armor due to Glacial early on.

This means I can take a Negatron/Antimagic to counter the enemy bottom without having to commit to the Frozen Heart if its not needed, while still getting a lot of fast CDR. I can even just take the Sapphire of Glacial and take MR earlier if needed and still have ok CDR.
You get 38.1% CDR with just a Glacial Shroud, and can max at 40% with Heart if you need the armor/aura. Or you can plan for the Heart and take 1 less CDR point in defense.

If you really don't see much need for armor due to their comp, consider subbing Spirit Visage and Brutalizer in place of the Glacial Shroud/Heart. I rarely do this but its an option.

After you have your Manamune, Glacial/Heart, ionic boots, you can also get HEXDRINKER which is a great item and builds from your antimagic you might have gotten.
That plus Odins = really high armor AND MR, with a virtual health shield and a bit better health than normal due to defense.

As a last item you could consider Phage/Mallet/Entrophy as desired, though it rarely gets to that. Plus the Maw upgrade which I usually never complete.

The key is DEFENSE which youve discovered. Trying to do a glass-cannon 'AD at all costs' is definitely NOT the way to go! But hexdrinker/Manamune give you really efficient AD while solving other issues too.
---------

But yeah, its a fun playstyle and similar to Yorick with more range but less toughness (early on at least).

If your team is struggling to take top pushing past the middle gap in bot usually leads to those 4 man ganks you speak of. On topic though, I think one of the reasons AD Malz catches hate is that there are players trying the build that do not adjust their play style from the standard AP or do not know how to control the minion to maximize the AD damage output he has. It has been proven that it is a very viable build, but not that everyone knows how or can do it. I personally do not play Malz either AP or AD but have seen both carry pretty hard.

a good team will drop you on your turret every time if it's a 4 man gank.

I just tried AD Malz in two games, and now I'm convinced he's OP on Dominion.

There is no way to push him out of lane, mana is no problem because Manamune is my first item (and I start with Tear). Minion waves are gone in seconds because of his E+Voidling combo, which clears waves even when he is far out of harass range. People can't go up to him because very few champs can take a full spell combo combined with a voidling. 2 man ganks are usually successful as Malz lacks an escape, but when he's back, he's back, and in the meantime Malz's team will take Windmill.

I build Tear, Boots, Manamune, Berserker's, Brutalizer->Black Cleaver, Brutalizer, and then a defensive item. Last game I blew up their Anivia (who can hold the lane with AoE clear but not in a 1v1 fight), then easily killed Brand by kiting and letting my Voidling chunk him. It's crazy.